1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a walking assistance device which assists a user in walking.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, as this type of walking assistance device, there has been known a walking assistance device which includes a seating member on which a user sits in a straddling manner and a pair of leg links supporting the seating member from below, wherein the leg links receive at least a part of the weight of the user through the seating member to reduce load acting on a leg or legs of the user, thereby assisting the user in walking (refer to, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-054616).
Further, there has been known another walking assistance device in which a ground contact member to be attached to each of the feet of the user is connected to each leg link through an ankle joint, which is formed of a spherical joint as a coupling mechanism limited in a swinging range in a rolling direction (refer to, for example, paragraph [0048] and FIG. 3 in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-54616).
If a coupling mechanism, which is limited in a swinging range, like a spherical joint is used for an ankle joint, the limitation in the swinging range may cause a difficulty in making a motion of opening his/her legs apart with the Leg links extended laterally.